KITTIE To Perform At This Year’s BLUE RIDGE ROCK FESTIVAL

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

Reunited Canadian metallers KITTIE have announced that they will perform at this year's Blue Ridge Rock Festival, set to take place September 8-11 at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. The Blue Ridge announcement comes just weeks after it was revealed that KITTIE would play at Las Vegas's When We Were Young festival in October. Joining guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander and her sister, drummer Mercedes Lander, at those shows in the fall will be guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic. Asked in a recent interview with the "Talk Toomey" podcast what led to Vujic returning to KITTIE for the upcoming dates, Lander said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ivy played on two of our albums, the last two albums that we did. She left the band right before the very last big tour that we ended up doing; she did the Soundwave Festival [in Australia] with us in 2012, and those were the last shows that we did with her. And she just kind of settled into her life, started a family, got married, and so that's sort of been what she's been up to. But Ivy's a metal girl at heart and she's always been super, super easygoing about stuff. I just sent her a message and I was, like, 'Hey, can we talk?' And we had a really, really great phone call and I just sort of explained the situation, explained what was going on. I asked her if she'd be into doing it, and she was, like, 'Yeah. Sounds great.' … It's very much one of those things where you don't talk that often anymore, you don't see each other that often, but then, when you all get together again, that chemistry and that vibe is always there." Morgan continued: "I feel like that lineup of KITTIE in particular was always very super pro, super chill — no stress, no drama. Just, like, 'You know what? We're gonna go out there and we're gonna sound amazing.' "She's an incredible bass player. I don't think that Ivy gets enough credit. She is absolutely incredible. So it's gonna be great." Vujic joined KITTIE in 2008 and appeared on the band's fifth studio CD, 2009's "In The Black". She also wrote and recorded bass for KITTIE's sixth album, 2011's "I've Failed You". When We Were Young will be held on the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on the Strip on October 22, October 23 and October 29. Officials said the "emo" festival will feature the same lineup on all three dates, with the exception of Alex G replacing Wolf Alice on October 29, and La Dispute will not perform on October 29. The lineup also includes MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, PARAMORE, AFI, THE USED, BRING ME THE HORIZON, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, ALKALINE TRIO, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS, AVRIL LAVIGNE, WOLF ALICE, STORY OF THE YEAR, JIMMY EAT WORLD and many others. When the lineup for When We Were Young was first revealed, KITTIE said: "Thanks for your patience with our silence friends. The truth is we've been in full on crisis mode the past week and weren't sure if we’d actually be able to make this happen but it's true and we'll be there to melt your face off and we hope you got your tickets." After the third When We Were Young date was announced, KITTIE wrote: "Third show added! Super stoked that @whenwewereyoungfest has decided to add yet another date! October 29th 2022. We'll see you there…tickets on sale January 31st". KITTIE has not performed since its reunion show at London Music Hall in the band's native London, Ontario in 2017, celebrating the group's documentary "Kittie: Origins/Evolutions". Last month, the original lineup of KITTIE — Morgan, Mercedes, Fallon Bowman (guitar) and Tanya Candler (bass) — reunited for an online chat to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of its gold-certified 2000 debut album, "Spit". Candler left KITTIE after the release of "Spit" in order to finish high school and was replaced by Talena Atfield. Bowman exited KITTIE in 2001 and started her own industrial/electronic project, AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT. After KITTIE completed the touring cycle for 2011's "I've Failed You" album, the band entered a long period of inactivity during which Morgan focused on a marketing job for a chain of fitness clubs while Mercedes worked in real estate and more recently at a software company. The group also began work on a career-spanning documentary, "Origins/Evolutions", which finally saw the light of day in 2018 via Lightyear Entertainment in North America. "I've Failed You" sold 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 178 on The Billboard 200 chart.